Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Afterlove by Tanya Byrne

20 reviews

devynvictoria's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. I’m glad we got the backstory to Poppy and Ash’s relationship, but I would have liked more of the reaper plot line. I’m going to echo the sentiment that I think this would have been a better read if it was an adult novel and the characters were adults. Last note is thar the author talks about what shoes Ash is wearing way, way too many times, holy cow. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Homophobia, Death, Lesbophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Alcohol and Murder

caseythereader's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Thanks to Macmillan Books for the free advance copy of this book.

 - AFTERLOVE is, somehow, the Kill Your Gays book I didn't know I needed.
- Ash and Poppy's love story burns fast and bright, and knowing from the first page that Ash was going to die makes it both worse and better.
- I kind of wish this was an adult novel instead of YA so the world and logistics of the reaper system could have been rounded out more. However, the intensity of teenage feelings was perfect for this short and painfully sweet story. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide, Vomit, Child death, Death, Grief, and Car accident

Minor: Sexual content

jazminnnnnnn's review against another edition

challenging hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Homophobia, and Death

Minor: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Murder, Transphobia, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt

em_of_swags's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This book ripped my heart to pieces and glued it back together like five times. It was worth it though, loved it so much.

Something about it was also quite soothing, a love letter to life but still diving into death not needing to be so scary.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Racism, Lesbophobia, Violence, Homophobia, and Murder

Minor: Child death and Suicide

being_stupid's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Blood, Death, and Homophobia

Moderate: Grief and Murder

ode_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I read this super fast because the story is super engaging and I really liked the characters. I like the choice of this theme for a YA book, I feel like that isn't done too often and the balance between the darker subject and the cute love story was done well. The love story did feel naive and a bit too perfect to me, but since they are 16 that's perfectly believable, and relatable to teenagers having their first love.
The cover is also stunning which is always a plus.
However I do have to say that there are a LOT of typos in this book, more than any book I've read before, which is really a shame and brought me out of the story every time it happens. Also there are some continuity mistakes (character makes a point that they don't have a Christmas tree, then suddenly has one later in the story; character takes off boots, then looks at feet and has them on a few pages later). I was honestly shocked that nobody caught those before it was printed. Those are details of course, so they did bring down my reading experience a little, but I still think this is a great book, especially for teenage sapphics!

I do wish all the relationships the author built and made us care about had some sort of resolution... Like Ash's best friend, little sister and parents. I really badly wanted to see their reaction to Ash's death, know if Ash's dad ever learnt about her girlfriend, know if the mom blamed herself for the accident... And we had the perfect opportunity at Ash's grave, but the author didn't show us any card written by a loved one or anything. We just move on to new people and new events. I guess that's the point, that death cuts if all off and doesn't let you say goodbye, and we do get a tiny bit of resolution with the mom at the very end.. But I wanted more, especially since Ash got a LOT of resolution with Poppy, which I know she's super in love with but she hasn't known for that long in the long run? Idk. I guess the fact that I care so much about this fictional family means the author wrote them well though.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Homophobia

Minor: Child death, Drug abuse, Murder, and Suicide

fujo_cat's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Oh my Gods, this was a good read. It's gay, it's wholesome, it made me emotional a few times and more than I'd like to admit
This is my second read of 2022 and it's a great way to start off the year! 💕

On a more serious note, this was a fantastic reading experience. In a way, it made me imagine how it must feel losing my current partner and it fucking hurts. It hurts so much it made me feel... I don't know, more at peace with the idea of it? It gave me closure, you could say :')

If death (or any of the trigger warnings in it) as a theme doesn't trigger you, then yes, I do recommend it a lot!! 🌈😤👌

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident and Death

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Grief, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, and Abandonment

Minor: Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Racism, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Blood, and Alcohol

bee_interrupted's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This book was okay. The romance about love so strong it conquers death is cute and I liked the diversity of the characters, but overall the book lacked suspense.

It really is mainly a love story, so it doesn't have fantasy elements or dive into the afterlife which would have been more up my alley.

It does give hope though so it
might be a good read for people struggling with the question of what happens after we die, especially because it doesn’t push any specific religious beliefs, instead saying that
"everyone goes where they believe they are going”.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide, and Violence

rockett's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Genuinely one of the best books I've ever read. The love story was beautiful and the way it was written was incredible. The plot flowed really well and while the difficulties of being queer were a part of the book, they didn't overshadow and ruin the romance as so many queer stories do.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, Homophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Racism

stressejesse's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder